Illusion of Human
by Tyranny Kassle
Summary: Ten Years have passed and a lot has changed. Tak, after facing some cold hard truth, sets out to find the only being that can help her. When she finds someone else, the only chance to restore her life is to let go and become something different entirely.


Hello there!

This is my first story on here so bare with me a bit. I've been working on it (editing, revising, and rewriting) for awhile now so I really hope you all enjoy it. I absolutely love the strange coupling of these two and I will do my absolute best to keep their personalities Cannon. We love the characters for who they are, do we not? Warning though, they (mostly Gaz) has grown up so there will be slight modifications. I also will stick with the old little facts strewn throughout the show regarding the history of the characters and technology.

**Disclaimer: I (sadly) do not own Invader Zim, or its characters. Because if I did, Tak would have stayed around... -_-**

* * *

She'd been wandering for years now, aimlessly traveling around the sorry excuse for a planet. She'd thought about trying to get to another planet, perhaps one already controlled by her empire but the plan was quickly dismissed. One, she didn't even have her ship anymore plus, she wasn't even a true invader. She was just a female who got screwed over by some half-assed short stump. He was a thorn in her side. But even the anger she felt for him could bring her to try and leave, or to even face him. She couldn't stand the humiliation so she put herself in some sort of exile; staying in the one place she hated the most. Now all she had was what she wore, what money she could scrounge, and her faithful companion Mimi. An unemotional robot but still, it was company.

Plus, even if she did find a way return, all they would do is to send her back to Dirt, where she would be forced to clean for another ten years until the next set of exams. Couldn't they of sent her to work in the armory, or even as an errand girl for the Tallest? Either would have been better than having to go back there or sit on the filth of Earth for a decade. Her steps halted in the middle of the street as she recalled the thoughts that had just gone through her head.

'_It's been ten bloody years since that retch?' _The young female thought. She hadn't really been paying close attention. Well, no attention really. She cared not for the interactions of the human trash around her or their way of recording the passage of time. She'd only ever really talked to them when she needed food or a place to stay, wash her clothes, or have them repaired.

It'd been ten years since she even turned off the disguise she wore, or more like projected upon herself. Why would she of? She had no place where she could go without worrying about being seen and killed so she never found a reason to remove the disgusting image from herself. At the very thought of it though, her skin shimmered and flickered out of focus. It only lasted for a second though before she was once again looking like a normal human female. A human teenager in fact. Again, her mind stopped as a few people passed.

Was she… eye level with them?

Funny how when you never spend any time thinking about the predicament you're in while you're around people, you never notice certain things. When she did think about why she was on Earth, she was usually holed up in some excuse for a hotel room or some old abandoned building. Not to mention that half the time she was in a numb funk that made her seem like an emotional zombie to anyone who saw her. So, as she met the eyes of some random lady who passed her, you could say the girl had an epiphany.

Kicking off from where she stood, with a small black cat following close on her heel, she ran into the nearest building. A gas station. The bell rung loudly behind her as she stormed in with a newly found determination, the sound bringing the acne faced boy behind the counter to attention. "Can I help you?" He asked, his eyes gazing over her for a second, holding for a few moments in specific places before groggily looking her in the eye.

"Where's your bathroom?" it sounded more like a hiss than an actual question, the tightness of her jaw barely allowing it to slip past her thin lips. Whether it was fear or anger at herself for not even paying attention through the years, she gripped the counter till her knuckles turned white.

"Customers only, sorry." His blotched features parted with a smug smile, feeling very accomplished by the fact that the angry freak girl in front of him would have to buy something in order to get any compliancy from him. But she just raised an eyebrow in such a steep arch; it gave her a visage of unrealism. Scoffing at his response, she stared at him. A flicker of blue crossed her eyes and she spoke very slowly, her accent causing her voice to take on a very vicious tone.

"Give me, the key."

And the boy turned to putty in her hands.

* * *

Brushing her purple hair out of her face, the amber eyed girl stared out the window of the fast food restaurant. A soda and meal consisting of a burger and fries sat in front of her, barely touched. It'd been two years since her brother passed away. Him and that idiot alien had finally gotten serious, and her brother became lost in his own madness and obsession with ridding the earth of the supposed danger. Before she knew it, they were shooting each other full of holes. One day, the holes went a bit too deep.

'_You're still stupid, you know that?' _She thought, wishing she could just hit him one more time over the head with something. Or at least spray soda in his face again for the hell of it.

Her head rested against the window sill while she mindlessly picked up a fry and used it to nudge the others around. You never know how much someone means until they're gone. As more time past, the girl was finding that simple statement to be true. Even if he drive her absolutely insane and make her come close to killing him herself most days. Finally taking a sip of her pop, the nineteen year old took her first bite of food as well, savoring the disgustingly good taste of the fast food.

Before she even knew it, she had finished and was standing from her seat. Across the back of the chair opposite of her was a tattered trench coat. She half expected to have to berate her brother for being so slow to join her or something, but of course she wouldn't have the chance to ever again. Reaching over, she plucked it from its resting place and threw it over her shoulders as she stood. A chuckle came from her lips. The girl was even nostalgic enough to fashion an outfit like the one she used to wear in honor of the date. A sleeveless black dress went down to just above her knees, slid over a grey striped long-sleeved shirt and purple striped tights. Not to mention the black converse that seemed to bring the whole outfit together. A hefty skull pendant hung from her neck as well. Really, the only thing that was different was she had grown more than just a few inches in the decade that had past, and was now about the height of 5"8'-5"9'_. _Her hair had been longer too but, she chopped it off for her brother's anniversary. When she had looked in the mirror before she left, it was a twilight zone moment.

Leaving the discarded food and wrappers on the table, she walked out of the place, pulling a Game Slave 3 out of her pocket. She'd learned to walk and play a long time ago so even if she passed by a crowd, she never bumped into one of them. No, not even stop lights fazed her demeanor. When the game was on, her body went on auto pilot. In ten years though, that was less and less frequent due to work and all. She'd graduated at sixteen, and immediately got a job programming all the computers at her father's lab. No, she didn't like the job. Not at all! But it paid good money and had allowed her to move out and get her own place.

She still hadn't gotten a car though yet which meant she had to take the bus. If the girl hated anything, it was in fact the bus, and all the lowlifes that seemed to gather in it. She was close though to finally having enough money for her own ride. _'Next paycheck should do it…' _She pondered to herself, stuffing the game underarm as she loaded the bus. The amber eyed girl barely heard the clink of her payment as she took a seat in the back before completing the annoying level she'd been stumped on for the last two days.

It didn't take long before she was unloading herself from the filthy vehicle, almost gagging as she passed by a man who obviously hadn't bathed in weeks. "Disgusting..." She muttered to herself as her feet carried her down the street, towards the once strange and now empty lot. It was hard to imagine that the incompetent alien boy had lived there for over eight years, the rest of the world clueless to his existence. It made her question the credibility of humanity. Now, it was just another alley way between two normal homes. It was as if none of it had ever happened.

Walking over, she hooked the trench coat around a jagged piece of metal sticking from the brick wall. The City had demoed the strange house but, in fear of compromising the buildings on either side, they left a good amount of the ruble and piping there. Watching the fabric catch in the breeze, she realized It wasn't much of a memorial but it would have to do. Plus, she didn't really feel like doing much more for someone who would have probably told her he didn't need it.

Turning around, the purple haired girl brought the game back up to her face and started to walk away from the scene. No need to waste her time around a place that can't bring back the dead. Passing by the concrete barriers the city put up in order to help prevent anyone building a house there again, the teen chuckled at the thought of someone ever building a house in _that_ alley. Without even realizing it, she had walked right past a figure perched on the wall.

She did however freeze in her tracks as she heard a slightly British voice speak up rather coldly.

"Where is Zim?"

The seemingly gothic girl turned around to see a very distinctive woman looking back at her, violet eyes and indigo hair making quite the contrast to the owner's pale skin. Even after ten years, the purple haired girl couldn't forget the brief encounters they had shared in passing. Such a person didn't leave your mind easily, especially when the world they came from took you brother from you. Even more so when you thought they too were dead

"T-Tak…?" Her voice trembled even though she tried to retain her surprise. Met with such an intense look, Gaz couldn't quite wrap her head around the idea of _her _showing up after so long.

Tak narrowed her eyes. "Yes. Are you daft or didn't you here _my _question first? Where is Zim?"

* * *

So what did you think? I hope the people who read this enjoy it as much as I do while writing it. R&R!


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